Beneath Your Beautiful
by Too Old For FanFiction
Summary: Alternate episode 4x19 scene... What I would have liked to have seen Caroline do after prom instead of her 5 second scene with Tyler. Hope you enjoy!


_Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?_

_Would you let me see beneath your perfect?_

_Take it off now, girl (take it off now, boy)_

_I wanna see inside._

_Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?_

_- Labrinth_

"Cinderella is back early from the ball."

Caroline gasped and twirled around, startled out of her thoughts and the trance that the dying fire had cast over her. "Don't _DO_ that!" she scolded, trying to make herself sound more angry than scared. "It's creepy when you sneak up on people!"

"Well, I do beg your pardon, love, but this is my house. If I can't be creepy here, what else is left to me?"

Klaus leaned casually against the door frame to the room, one hand holding a crystal tumbler of whiskey, the other tucked into the pocket of a pair of worn jeans, and he was barefoot. Caroline noticed faint smudges of something black on one of the cuffs of his white cotton tunic and she realized that he must have been sketching before he had found her in his den. The sight of him so dressed down and the thought of him doing something so utterly human made Caroline smile.

He cocked his head at her smile and asked, "Am I forgiven then?"

"This time. How long have you been standing there?"

His bare feet softly padded against the hard wood of the floor as he came into the room and crossed over to the wet bar. He sat the glass down but didn't pour himself a new drink.

"Not long, don't worry. I was just surprised to see you here again tonight. I'm not up to speed on high school culture, but doesn't one's senior prom generally last longer than," his eye's flashed over to the clock on the mantel, "eleven-thirty? And isn't it typically followed by some type of raucous after-party where everyone gets intoxicated and all the innocent maidens succumb to the evils of men?"

"Ok, ew. And again – creepy," she half-heartedly chided him.

"If you're not going to tell me what's wrong, Caroline, I may have to get even creepier."

Caroline had dreamed of this evening for so long and now it had come and gone. The decorations had been perfect, her dress was one-of-a-kind fabulous, and yet she could not deny the cloud of disappointment that hung over her flawlessly coiffed head all evening. She had wanted so very bad for this night, of all nights, to be perfect.

Sure - heads had turned her way when she had crossed over that threshold and joined her classmates for the last dance of their high school lives, but the elation quickly faded as she watched her friends laugh and dance. But she stood alone, waiting and watching for the inevitable drama that haunted everything she and her friends did.

"Oh, same ole same ole," she wistfully sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat. "Big important night, bitchy hateful best friend attempts to murder other best friend, big bad evil immortal plays around with everyone's minds ruining everything - just another day in Mystic Falls." Here Caroline snorted sardonically. "I only got one dance and that was with Stefan. A pity dance!"

Her skin flushed with the heat of her ire and her eyes, wide with incredulity, sparkled with tears that she was trying so hard not to spill. Klaus didn't even try to hide his amusement at her exasperation.

"It's not funny!" she cried. Her hands balled into fists at her side and she very nearly stomped her foot in a full on temper-tantrum. And then the room filled with mirthful laughter. It bubbled up and out of her, uncontrollably, and a few tears managed to escape leaving glistening trails down her heated cheeks. "Oh, my God, I'm ridiculous!"

"Oh, come now, love," Klaus cooed affectionately. "It isn't totally unrealistic for the head cheerleader, a former Miss Mystic Falls none-the-less, to expect a non-pity dance at her senior prom." Klaus crossed the distance between them and stopped in front of her. "Especially when she looks as gorgeous as you do. May I?" and he offered a hand to her.

Caroline hesitated as she stared down at his open hand. He had done terrible things, the last of which were not so far in the past. Were their newly forged friendship and a gorgeous dress enough to let all of those deeds slide?

'_Oh screw it,'_ the defiant voice of Caroline's psyche decided for her.

Tingles of electricity raced through Caroline when her hand slid into his. Klaus' fingers gently closed around hers while his other hand settled on swell of her hip and pulled her close against him.

"There's, uh, no music."

Klaus bent his head forward until his lips were almost against Caroline's ear. "Use your imagination, sweetheart," he whispered and sent a new set of chills racing through Caroline's body as his warm breath rushed over her skin. Slowly, he began to lead her across the floor.

One, two, three – he waltzed her in and out between the furniture.

One, two, three – they both laughed when Caroline's feet got tangled up in the skirt of her borrowed gown causing her to stumble and bump her forehead against Klaus' nose.

One, two, three – Klaus twirled her under their joined hands before gently dipping her.

One, two, three – both of their hearts pounded against their rib cages as he brought her back up and their dancing came to a halt.

Klaus' hands slid away from her body only to come up and delicately cup her face, his thumbs lightly stroking the line of her jaw. His eyes trailed up and down the planes of her face, studying her with such intensity.

Even though she was aware of the moment and its gravitas, Caroline hesitated mentally, but let Klaus continue his ministrations. _'What are you doing?'_ she demanded of herself. '_This is not who I am!'_ She would have chastised any of her friends, _had_ chastised Elena, for acting the very way she was acting now. But... Though her mind tried to steel itself, her body still responded to Klaus' caress. She felt weak. She wasn't in control and that feeling scared Caroline above all else.

She hated herself for it, but in that very moment Klaus was giving her everything she wanted. She loved Tyler. She would be with Tyler, even after this, but she was here, now. Caroline didn't normally dwell on what it meant be a vampire, but she was immortal. Her, Klaus..._Tyler_...all immortal. '_When you have lifetimes upon lifetimes, what does one moment matter in the grand scheme?'_

Caroline's eyelids fluttered closed in anticipation as Klaus' thumb made one last pass against her jaw, lightly skimming the edge of her lower lip. "I just came to return the dress," she gasped in a feeble last-minute attempt to do right by her conscience.

Warm lips grazed her forehead and pressed a gentle kiss into her flesh. "Keep it," Klaus huskily whispered. He rested his own forehead against hers for the length of a few heart beats, allowing himself one last touch of her skin, before pushing himself away and closing himself back up behind his walls. "It looks much better on you than it ever would on me."


End file.
